William Ryan Trophy

The William Ryan Trophy is a Canadian ice hockey series to determine the Northwestern Ontario seed of the Keystone Cup - the Western Canada Junior "B" Hockey Crown.

History

From 1997 until 2004, the right to compete in the Keystone Cup was an epic battle between the champions of the Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League and the North of Superior Junior B Hockey League. After six championships competed for, each league had three Northwestern Ontario titles each, but in the last two years of competition the TBJBHL won both years. As the NSHL folded in 2004, the TBJBHL won the 8 year series five championships to three. Since Tier II Junior "A" hockey in the region has expanded from just the Thunder Bay Flyers in 2000 to the 7-team Superior International Junior Hockey League in 2007, the local talent pools have been severely taxed making the Junior "B" teams less dominant at the National level. The result has been the shrinking down the TBJBHL to 3 Junior teams mixed in with a bunch of top tier Minor "AAA" teams and of course the all-out folding of the NSHL in 2004.

In the past two seasons, the TBJBHL champion has been uncontested and has earned automatic berth into the Keystone Cup. The only time the Northwestern Ontario champion has ever won the Western Canadian title was in 1999 when the Fort William Hurricanes went the distance.

The region has hosted the Keystone Cup five times. Thunder Bay, Ontario hosted the Cup in 1994, 1999 and 2009. Schreiber, Ontario hosted the second ever Cup in 1984 and again in 2004.

Champions

1972 Schreiber North Stars 1973 Schreiber North Stars 1974 Schreiber North Stars 1975 Thunder Bay Blades 1976 Atikokan Voyageurs 1977 Schreiber North Stars 1978 1979 Marathon A's 1980 Schreiber North Stars 1981 Nip-Rock Rangers 1982 1983 Thunder Bay Hornets 1984 Thunder Bay Hornets

1985-1993 No Junior B Hockey 1994 Westfort Maroons 1995 Fort William Hurricanes 1996 Northwestern Wildcats 1997 Northwestern Wildcats 1998 Hearst Elans 1999 Hearst Elans 2000 Fort William Hurricanes 2001 Westfort Maroons 2002 Aguasabon River Rats 2003 Nipigon Elks 2004 Thunder Bay Northern Hawks 2005 Thunder Bay Northern Hawks

2006 K&A Wolverines 2007 K&A Wolverines 2008 K&A Wolverines 2009 K&A Wolverines 2010 Thunder Bay Northern Hawks 2011 Thunder Bay Northern Hawks

See also

• Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League
• North of Superior Junior B Hockey League
• Hockey Northwestern Ontario
• Northern Ontario Hockey Association
• Ontario Hockey Federation

External links

• Hockey Northwestern Ontario
• Hockey Thunder Bay
• Northern Ontario Hockey Association